On 21 June, the Israeli cabinet unanimously approved a plan to extend Jerusalem westward to include an area containing large Jewish settlements. The ultimate aim is to extend the total area of Jerusalem from 123 to 600 square kilometers through the confiscation and annexation of land. The Netanyahu government intends to alter the demographic composition of the city, transforming the Arabs -- its indigenous, rightful owners -- into a small minority.
The Israeli premier has sought to dissimulate his crime against Jerusalem and its indigenous inhabitants behind such catchwords as "development" and "modernisation". In fact, he is flouting all UN Security Council resolutions on Jerusalem, as well as the Fourth Geneva Convention on Jerusalem and the Hague Principles of 1907.
There is much more to this crime than the modification of administrative boundaries. The Palestinian inhabitants of Jerusalem have been subjected to systematic racism. Their homes are confiscated and demolished and their identity cards are withdrawn on the most spurious pretexts. They are refused permission to register their children born outside Jerusalem or spouses who are not from the city.
Because the government refuses to grant building permits to Arabs, some 21,000 Palestinian families now find themselves without a roof over their heads. If the US refuses to curb Israeli aggression, the Arabs will go to the Security Council. Yet there, the US has used its veto right more than 12 times to shelter Israel from condemnation.
Israel has always taken the US veto as permission to do whatever it wants. But another green light will open the floodgates to extremism and violence.
*This week's Soapbox speaker is the PLO ambassador in Cairo.
